New guidelines released by the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health raised concerns about the ongoing issues associated with protecting children in Britain from abuse, with thousands of youths in the country at risk.
The sheer scale & severity of Child Sexual Exploitation in the UK makes me wonder why the people aren't on the streets protesting.
— Joolz Denby (@JoolzDenby) May 14, 2015
The guidelines, put together to help health care professionals identify children suffering or at risk of sexual abuse, found that many physical signs of abuse were often hard to distinguish, which further complicated the work of professionals trying to help vulnerable young children.
History of 'Industrial Scale' Abuse in UK
The new figures have raised concern among some child health care professionals — specifically, the progress being made on tackling the issue.
Following the recent revelations of child sexual abuse in the UK, which Prime Minister David Cameron described as being on an "industrial scale," far greater attention has been placed on the issue.
As part of the prime minister's plans to tackle the "national threat" of sexual exploitation, proposals have been put forward which would see teachers, councelors and social workers who fail to protect children facing up to five years in jail.
Just filmed @David_Cameron inside No10 —he said children have suffered horrific sexual abuse on an "industrial scale" pic.twitter.com/UJdP7R88Ry
— Aisling Ennis (@aislingrosennis) March 3, 2015
The proposals followed widespread outrage at the release of an independent report, which found that 1,400 children were sexually exploited by gangs of men in the UK area of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Authorities were blamed for not effectively tackling the problem, with Prime Minister Cameron accusing some people and organizations of "walking on by" and not acting effectively when it comes to child sex abuse.
Challenges Remain
Despite the increase in efforts placed on combating child exploitation, the figures stating that nearly 3,000 children are in need of protection will come as a concern to authorities as it appears efforts made to fight the issue may not be working as effectively as hoped.
While some child health care organizations were blamed for their inaction over the matter, Britain's main political parties have also been criticized for taking so long to act on the matter.
The issue of child sexual abuse did not feature in the party manifestos for either the Conservatives or Labour in the lead-up to the 2010 general election, despite warnings from experts that exploitation of children had been a major issue in the UK for decades.
This led to suggestions from some, who said although the new attention placed on child sexual abuse was welcomed, it was also well overdue, with politicians equally responsible for not being active enough to tackle the problem.
Dr Amanda Thomas, consultant community pediatrician and chair of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health report, said there is a lot more that needs to be done to tackle the problem of child sexual exploitation.
"In recent years there has been a step-change in society's understanding of and response to child sexual abuse. But although understanding has grown and we are seeing more children and young people prepared to disclose alleged sexual abuse, challenges still remain in establishing whether or not a child or young person has been sexually abused, the significance of some of the physical signs present, and ensuring that these signs are translated into a medical assessment."
